


Then We'll Do What's Hard

by StealtheRest



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:20:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28295190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StealtheRest/pseuds/StealtheRest
Summary: Josh and Donna's relationship had always been complicated. But a bullet wound and his recovery lead Josh and Donna to what was always inevitable.
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

Nobody questioned Donna’s reaction.

They were close, that was known. 

Nobody questioned it. But they all saw. They all saw her face, stripped of any color, eyes red rimmed. They all saw the way she shakily sat down, so still. They all saw how she didn’t react when C.J. comfortingly rubbed her arm. 

Josh and Donna’s relationship was strikingly obvious to anyone who was in the same room with them for more than five minutes and the senior staff was not immune to this. They all just chose to ignore it. It was easier that way.

But now, with Donna sitting so still and so quiet in the hospital waiting room as her boss is laying on a table with his life literally in the hands of the doctors at G.W, nobody knew what to say. Nobody knew how to comfort Donna when they themselves were also in shock, hell they were the ones who were actually shot at. 

But they all knew. They all knew that Donna’s feelings for Josh went far beyond those of a normal boss/assistant relationship. And that was why this was so hard. 

How do you comfort someone, give them the hopeful reassurance they so desperately need when you can’t even put into words what the relationship these two people share was.

Carol, although a faithful assistant and loyal friend to C.J, had not come to the hospital. Margaret was probably still in the West Wing fielding calls. Mrs. Landingham had stopped by and quietly held Donna’s hand, but even she went back to work.

Donna was the only person in the waiting room, besides the First Lady, who was not a member of Bartlet’s senior staff. And for some reason, that wasn’t strange, or odd, or even inappropriate. It just was. And nobody questioned it. 

Abbey Bartlet, bless her heart, had taken Donna to observe Josh’s surgery. While that had momentarily subsided the crushing need Donna had to see him, it hadn’t accomplished the heartbreakingly disastrous desire she had to touch him. 

Josh and Donna were incredibly tactile. Always a his hand on her back, her hand rubbing down his arm, the two of them standing just a little bit too close. 

When Josh was out of surgery, and when the president had left Josh’s hospital room, Donna entered. She still hadn’t cried yet. 

She came close to it when Toby first told her that Josh was hit. But after that an overwhelmingly uncomfortable numbness set in on her. 

She felt nothing except the need to be close to him. She needed to see his chest rising. She needed to hear him breath. For a person who is usually full of energy, she needed to see him move. She needed to touch his hand and feel his pulse. 

“Excuse me, but I was told I could wait in here.” 

Donna looked up and felt the faintest sense of relief to see Ruth Lyman entering the waiting room.

“Come, sit down,” Toby instructed.

Donna and Ruth had gotten somewhat acquainted over the numerous phone calls that Donna made to Josh’s childhood home after his father died. Donna insisted on sending her condolences to Ruth, who was more than happy to speak to the young, wide-eyed girl that Josh was clearly taken by. 

Ruth didn’t have to be told to know which one of the Bartlet staffer’s Donna was. Donna’s eyes were red rimmed and her face was pale. She looked how Ruth felt. 

After sharing brief greetings with each other, Ruth sat down next to Donna, placing her hand on top of hers. 

As the members of the senior staff filtered in and out of the waiting room, Ruth and Donna stayed put. 

They didn’t say much to each other. They didn’t have to. Ruth could see the worry in Donna’s eyes, but she could also see something else. Something that Ruth had only started to pick up on during the all too few phone calls she shared with her son. She heard it in his voice as he described his quirky assistant who seemed to always know the right answer, seemed to know how to keep Josh in line. 

Ruth’s thoughts were interrupted by a doctor entering the room.

“He’s awake.”


	2. Chapter 2

“She’s at the hospital everyday Toby. Someone is going to notice.” C.J. entered Toby’s office and let out a sigh as she collapsed in his visitor’s chair.

“I know.” 

“Believe me,” C.J. continued, “I wish I didn’t have to worry about this. I wish no one cared about whatever the hell Josh and Donna are doing but this reflects on the president.” 

“I don’t think they’re going to be the story. The president was shot, his senior aid was shot, the press isn’t going to care about who is going in and out of his hospital room.”

“I hope you’re right.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------

As the others filtered out, Donna stayed put. Josh had been in and out of consciousness for a little over a day, and while Ruth tried her best to convince Donna to go home for a real night’s rest, she refused. 

Not wanting to get behind on work, Donna was in the middle of reading a briefing memo that had been sent over to her when she heard a faint grown. 

She was up in an instant. 

“Hey,” Donna said softly, gently rubbing his forehead. “I’m here, it’s okay.” 

She noticed that Josh more often than not woke up disoriented and somewhat fearful. The nurses said that was to be expected, that didn’t make it any easier on Donna to witness. 

“Donna,” Josh said quietly and somewhat pained, “you’re still here?” 

“‘course.”

“Where’s my mom?”

“She’s at your apartment sleeping, I gave her my spare key.” 

Josh reached his arm out to Donna, who took the hint and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. He weakly squeezed her’s back. She laid her head on the bed, grateful to be close to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick filler chapter to get the story off the ground!


	3. Chapter 3

Josh’s recovery wasn’t going to be easy, that much Donna knew. And it wasn’t as if she consciously decided to basically become Josh’s main caregiver. He was just so stubborn with the nurses and she was so worried about his recovery that it naturally happened. 

At first, Donna would stay until late at night and then take a cab home at some ungodly hour. 

When Josh found out, he put a stop to that right away, “you can’t be galavanting about in the middle of the night, Donna!”

So naturally, Donna started sleeping on Josh’s couch. The rest of the senior staff were purposefully ignorant, because they truly didn’t want to know. 

It was a few weeks into this new living arrangement when it happened. 

Donna was woken up by a crash followed by a loud groan. She was up and by Josh’s side in an instant. She saw the books that Josh had somehow knocked off of his night table on the ground. He was thrashing in bed, clearly having a nightmare. 

“Josh,” Donna frantically said. 

“Josh, you gotta wake up.”

“Josh.” 

He woke up with a gasp.

“Donna?” 

“It’s okay Josh,” she whispered, running her hand gently down his face. 

“It’s okay.” She repeated. 

“You were,” he gulped. “You were hurt and I couldn’t get to you.”

“Shhh, it’s okay, I’m here. I’m right here. And you’re okay.” 

The nightmares happened somewhat frequently. Donna could feel her heart breaking into pieces when she had the stunning realization that his nightmares were about her. Her getting shot, her getting left behind, her dying, his never seeing her again. 

She wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that. But she did know one thing; it meant something, and she wasn’t going to let it go. Not this time. Not after she came so close to losing him. 

Yes, she knew dating her boss was not only inappropriate but something both she and Josh knew the ramifications for this would mostly impact Donna’s career, not Josh’s. 

She wasn’t sure what to do with this realization that Josh may feel something for her. But she was going to do something.


End file.
